Space
Vikram-1 Rocket
- Context: On July 2, private space launch company Skyroot Aerospace, based in Hyderabad, announced that the launch window for Vikram-1’s first test flight, named Mission Aagaman, is between July 12 and August 4.
About Vikram-1 Rocket
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- Vikram-1 is India’s first privately designed and built orbital launch vehicle.
- Its inaugural mission is called Mission Aagaman, meaning “the arrival.”
- Mission Aagaman is a partly commercial launch carrying both Indian and international customer payloads, aiming to place them into a 450 km orbit with a 60° inclination.
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- Developer: Hyderabad-based Skyroot Aerospace.
- The mission comes after the successful Vikram-S suborbital launch in 2022, which became the first privately developed rocket launched into space from India.
- Launch Window: 12 July – 4 August 2026.
- Launch Location: Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC-SHAR), Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.
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- Main Objective: To obtain live flight data on propulsion, stage separation, guidance, navigation, and overall vehicle performance, helping validate the rocket’s design for future frequent commercial launches.
- Design & Construction: A seven-storey-high, multi-stage launch vehicle built using an all-carbon composite airframe to enable faster and cost-effective manufacturing.
- Propulsion System: Equipped with indigenously developed solid and liquid propulsion technologies, including 3D-printed rocket engines and high-performance solid rocket boosters.
- Payload Capability: Engineered to deliver up to 350 kg of small satellites into Low Earth Orbit (LEO).
- Avionics & Flight Control: Features a fully autonomous onboard guidance and control system, allowing the rocket to fly without any pilot intervention or manual controls.
